HOD, Director Of Hospital Ought To Know Nature Of Sickness And Treatment Of Patient: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that in the medical field, Head of Department and the Director of a medical institution ought to know the nature of sickness and treatment of the patient keeping in view the welfare of the patient.

The observation came from a division bench comprising of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh while dealing with a letter patent appeal filed by one Mehraz Bano who was apprehending that certain confidential information with regard to the medical treatment and the sickness of her minor son undergoing treatment in IHBAS could be shared with persons other than the doctors who were treating him.

The appellant assailed a single judge bench order dated 28 April wherein Justice Pratibha Singh had disposed of the mother's application on the assurance given by Advocate Tushar Sannu, appearing on behalf of IHBAS that apart from the team of treating doctors, consisting of the Head of the Department and the Director, no one else is permitted to access the record of the patient.

Before the division bench, it was submitted on behalf of the appellant that as per sec. 5 and 23 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 (Right to Confidentiality) and also the Judgment in K.S.Puttaswamy (Retd.) vs. Union of India & Ors.,(2017) 10 SCC 1, the information with regards to medical treatment taken by the patient and the sickness from which the patient is suffering from, should not be shared with anyone else except the doctors of IHBAS who were treating the patient.

Analysing the aforesaid submission, the division bench observed thus:

"As is clear from a reading of the above provision that an exception has been carved out in the Act itself so that proper care and treatment could be provided to the person with mental illness. In our view also, it ought to be kept in mind that the Head of the Department and the Director of IHBAS ought to know the nature of sickness and the treatment of the patient. This is for the welfare of the patient. It ought to be kept in mind that to ensure whether the treatment is going on in correct direction or not, it has to be monitored by the Head of the Department and the Director of the IHBAS."

Noting that such a consultation of a doctor with HOD or Director in the medical field "is not just for nothing", the bench went ahead to observe thus:

"On the contrary, such consultation may prove helpful in giving treatment of the patient. It is like in the case of lawyer's argument; whenever, main lawyer is arguing the case, he/she is always taking assistance from the other junior lawyers associated with him/her and vice versa."

Agreeing with the single judge bench order, the Court directed the Director and HOD of IHBAS that the information about the sickness of the patient and the nature of the treatment being undertaken by the patient, shall not be shared with any third party.

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